Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
INTUITIVE UNDERSTANDING OF PHYSICS
Vehicle simulations require more than just an abilit y to steer a vehicle; they also
require an intuitive understanding of the physics of the game world. Players must
learn, usually through experience, a car's braking distance, acceleration rate, at
what rate it may take a turn without sliding off the road, and so on. Learning and
internalizing these features of the game world and the vehicle constitute another
challenge. Games such as pool and darts also require the player to develop an intui-
tive understanding of physics. These appear under physical coordination challenges
because the player tends to develop a visceral rather than an intellectual under-
standing of these aspects of the game world (darts players don't need to know
calculus), which finds its expression in successful physical coordination.
You can help the player develop an intuitive understanding of the game's physics.
First, make sure the physics remains consistent. The physics engine must be reliable
and produce predictable results. Programmers handle the physics engine, but you
should also keep this in mind. Second, the simpler the physical model of the world,
the easier it will be for the player to develop that intuitive understanding. Sports
games often simplify their physics to help the player. For example, many sports
games don't implement the physical property of inertia for an athlete running
under the player's control because the player wants to be able to turn his player
instantaneously and will find it harder to get used to the game if he cannot. Flight
simulators, too, model the physics of flight with greater and lesser degrees of accu-
racy depending on how easy the designer wants to make it for the player to
understand how the airplane behaves.
TIMING AND RHYTHM
Side-scrolling action games rely heavily on timing challenges, in which the player
learns to dodge swinging blades and attack predictable enemies. Rhythm chal-
lenges, tests of the player's ability to press the right button at the right time, feature
in dance games such as
Dance Dance Revolution
and other music-based games such
as
Donkey Konga
and
Guitar Hero
. The popularity of rhythm-based games resulted in
a significant aftermarket in specialty input devices such as dance mats and elec-
tronic conga drums.
COMBINATION MOVES
Many fighting games require complex sequences of joystick moves and controller-
button presses that, once mastered, allow the player's avatar to perform some
especially powerful feat. (See the section “Fighting Games” in Chapter 13, “Action
Games.”) Executing a combo move requires speed, timing, and a good memory,
too: The player has to remember the button sequence and produce it perfectly at
just the right time. You can make combination moves easier by shortening them,
requiring fewer presses.
